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Traditional wisdom says that restaurants and bars do trivia nights during the week when traffic is slower. The trivia, with promises of cash, gift certificates, and fun bring in people who may be more reticent to go out when they have to work the next morning.

I thought it would be fun to do an entire week of trivia. More accurately, Monday through Friday. I tried to pick a mix of restaurants and bars around town. All where ones I had been to before. In the future, there’s other trivia nights not included here that I would like to try including Blind Bear Speakeasy (because it’s a speakeasy! nuff said) and Flying Saucer.

On the first night (Monday) we went to the infamous adult trivia held by Slider Inn. Slider Inn, located at the corner of Peabody and Cooper, is one of my favorite restaurants/bars. However, I had only previously visited at lunch time (the have great specials and the wait staff are supremely friendly). Oh yeah, the have an awesome patio, that is zipped up when it’s cold outside.

Anyhow, I heard about the trivia from a former fellow graduate student who managed to stumble in with her dad one night they were doing trivia.

Our total group was made up of eight fearless citizens. We picked a great, evening-appropriate team name, which I will not mention here. Of the 11 teams that took part in trivia, there were several that cause the whole crowd to laugh uproariously when called out.

The questions were tough! There were several questions that came from recent news stories. The format is three rounds followed by half time then another three rounds. During half-time we were pleasantly surprised by getting small shots of an orange vodka poured in our mouths.

Though we fought valiantly (and bet the whole farm on the bonus question), we ultimately did not prevail.

Fortunately, though good times were to be had by all trivia participants. I will definitely be back and I suspect the same of my fellow trivia mates.

And I will never look at pop rocks in the store again without secretly cringing.

On Tuesday night we ventured out to The Cove on Broad Avenue. The Cove is an awesome pirate/oyster bar. They’re known for great made-from-scratch cocktails.

Out of all of the trivia nights that I found locally, The Cove has the latest time. Especially given that it takes place on a Tuesday night.

When I put the together the schedule, trivia was listed at 9. However it actually started at 9:30. Given experiences with Slider Inn and The Cove, it appears that the bars wait until as many people are in place as possible before starting. So the time trivia gets started seems to be fluid within about 30 minutes or so.

As it turned out, the trivia guy was the same as Monday night’s trivia at Slider Inn. I started off alone answering questions, because teammates had not yet arrived. I actually answered all of my solo questions correctly.

About four additional folks showed up. I do think that the late time was a deterrent.

Unlike Slider Inn, there were about six or seven teams competing. We were in first place after the first run, but ended up falling the fourth after the second. We wagered all of the possible points of the bonus question (which revolved around ranking the order of creation of toys from the 1980s). We ended up answering the question correctly and winning the whole game!

We ended up closing our tab too quickly however because the grand prize was $35 on our tab. So one of our team members got some pineapples soaked in tequila while the rest of us scarfed down deluxe shots of some sort of cinnamon flavored whiskey (not Fireball). I am pretty sure I teared up immediately after.

Due to the lateness in the evening, I ended up using Lyft service for the first time. It was great, except that the driver had not yet received her pink mustache for her truck, which is part of the appeal, to be honest.

On Wednesday we ventured to Tamp & Tap downtown. Tamp & Tap is a super cute coffee and brew (read: beer) restaurant. They also have soup and sandwiches. (And brunch!) Their trivia is hosted by MemphiSports’ Kevin Cerrito. There is an 8-person limit for teams, and the trivia changes themes every week.

That night the theme was Disney. I’m not a huge Disney person, but the questions were broad enough that generally someone on our team had an idea. In case you’re wondering there were about 6 or 7 teams.

We ended up in a tie for best team name (Books A Make Belle Dance), which had to be resolved via Mario Kart. One of our valiant teammates won, which gave us a free pitcher. We ended up saving that for a future trip.

At the end of trivia we ended up in a tie again. This time for second place. So more Mario Kart. Same teammate won again, which earned a $25 gift certificate to local t-shirt shop Sache. We gave him the shirt since he put in so much effort.

On Thursday we went to Cooper-Young favorite Young Avenue Deli. (Known as “the Deli” by frequent patrons.)

The place was packed. Not sure if it was due to trivia or because it was Thursday. There were about 15 teams though.

Like the first two nights, there is no limit on team members. However, there is a limit on space at any given time. Deli trivia is part of Memphis Trivia League so things seemed more formal, with printed out slips of paper to keep notes on. The top five teams also went on to future rounds (carrying their points with them).

Out of all of the nights so far, these seemed to be the most difficult questions. The questions ran the gamut.

To do well here, a group would need to have a team with a lot of different expertise.

On Friday, me and a handful of friends headed to Ubees, which is located on the Highland Strip.

But alas, the trivia person had a tent down at Memphis in May Barbecue Fest and there wasn’t a backup person. To say the least, I was disappointed.

It was also two hours before their infamous Power Hour (insanely cheap drink specials, I’m talking 3-for-1 type deals).

The only other night I knew about was T.J. Mulligans, but no one was willing to drive to Quince or Cordova to take part.

And that was my week of trivia. It was a ton of fun, and honestly got a little bit tiring towards the end.

I definitely will be doing trivia again. Just not for a week straight. See you around town!

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Thanks to Elle Perry for initiating and enduring the “Week of Trivia.” Drinks were won, egos were shattered, and new friends were made. By day, Elle coordinates the Teen Appeal; every other second, she’s a Memphis super-connector.